There are very many cover versions of the majestic ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale'. Not one comes close to rivalling the Procol Harum original. None persuades.
Yet one soars above the rest: sufficiently to make ‘cover' the wrong word. It's no substitute for the original, but it's a magnificent and moving vocal attempt. It's by Don Everly, and is hidden away on an Everly Brothers album called, er, The Everly Brothers Sing.
It fails bravely - confirming Don Everly's immense capacity for fully engaged risk in his singing. As I've written about him in another context, when he sings alone, he lives in the spontaneity of the moment, his phrasing inspired, warm, free. He is an artist.
He's not responsible for the video added to the track (though without it, I couldn't offer the audio here):
And even if you don't take to that, give a few minutes to hearing his beautiful, weird and shimmering recording of the Western standard 'Tumbling Tumbleweeds', from his wrongfully neglected solo album Don Everly:
A Whiter Shade of Pale is such an idiosyncratic, wonderful oddity, and so perfectly and warmly evocative of its time, that it ought not to be able to be covered with any degree of success, so it's astonishing that Don Everly gets so far with his version. I think in fact that 'failure' is a bit harsh. I'd say the main flaw is the backing/production, which makes little attempt to distance itself from the original.
ReplyDeleteIt was Procul Harum's finest moment, but they were never just a one- song band. In addition, Gary Brooker was/is a terrifically versatile vocalist. Refreshingly self-effacing too.
Rambling Gambling Gordon